Since Saturday 16 August, at least some travellers to the US would have been happy not having to pull out their laptops from their cases during screening.

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is allowing passengers carrying what they call ''checkpoint-friendly bags'' to pass freely through airport security checks, without having to take their laptops out of the bags.

The move follows a TSA announcement that it was seeking bag designs that comply with their specifications, to which around 60 manufacturers responded with around 40 prototypes.

TSA's requirement for the checkpoint friendly bags is quite simple:

It must have a designated laptop-only section.

The laptop-only section must completely unfold to lay flat on the X-ray conveyor belt.

There must be no metal snaps, zippers or buckles inside, underneath or on top of the laptop-only section.
There must be no pockets on the inside or outside of the laptop-only section.

There must be nothing packed in the laptop-only section other than the computer itself.

While no bag has a ''TSA Approved'' endorsement, the government body does say that manufacturers are providing a number of bags that qualify. Around a dozen manufacturers have started advertising the checkpoint-friendly bags.

The TSA has approved three different types of bags: the sleeve, the butterfly and the trifold design. Each has a specially designed section for carrying laptops, with no other pockets, metal zippers or buckles. This lets the laptop be scrutinised unobstructed as it passes through the X-ray scanner.

However, if that does not happen, then the convention of removing the laptop from the bag would apply.
One design resembles a clam shell, where the case unzips into two. One side hosts the computer, the other the peripherals and other items. All bags are devoid of metal zippers, clips and buckles, at least on the side that hosts the computer.

TSA statistics show that around a third of American air travellers fly with laptops, and some even forget their computers at checkpoints in their haste to board their flight.

Other issues that the TSA faced was the extended time that it took travellers to unpack their laptops out of their bags, and then re-packing them after passing through security, which clogged the pre-boarding security check aisles, and affected other travellers. The modification is expected to significantly smoothen the pre-boarding security process.

Prices for the checkpoint friendly bags vary from $45 to $199.